McIlvaine attorney: St. Charles is overreaching

GENEVA – A court hearing began Tuesday regarding what items need to be completed or removed at Clifford McIlvaine’s property as part of his decades-long home improvement project.

The city of St. Charles has submitted to Kane County Judge David Akemann the list of items. Akemann previously allowed the city to proceed with work on McIlvaine’s property at 605 Prairie St., including correcting an unfinished roof.

The court hearing was continued until March 25 and March 26.

City officials are asking permission to remove vehicles, construction materials and rubbish from outside McIlvaine’s house, and move them to a storage facility at his expense. McIlvaine attorney Philip Piscopo said the city is overreaching.

"The city is trying to go way beyond the original consent decree," Piscopo said to Akemann.

Bob Vann, the city's building and code enforcement division manager, testified that McIlvaine has never called the city asking for a final inspection of the property or certificate of occupancy. Vann said he inspected the property on March 11, and that it could not have passed a final inspection or been issued a certificate of occupancy.

"There were a number of code violations existing on the property," he said.

The city sued McIlvaine in 2010, pushing him to get the home improvement project finished, and a work schedule later was agreed upon in court. McIlvaine was briefly jailed in 2012 when he refused to comply with the city’s plumbing code as part of the project.

The project was supposed to be completed by the end of September 2012, according to the order.